All things lavish

On this day in 1964 Metropolitan Opera’s opening night was a new production of Aida.

Jay Harrison in Musical America:

The Metropolitan Opera’s 79th season began on October 14 with a twofold spectacle-one off stage and one on. As to the former, the house was filled with chinchillas and tiaras and clothes of every describable texture and color, while accounting for the latter was a new production of Verdi’s “Aida” conducted by Georg Solti and featuring Birgit Nilsson, as the heroine; Carlo Bergonzi, as Radames; Irene Dalis, as Amneris; Giorgio Tozzi, as Ramfis; and Mario Sereni, as Amonasro. Lesser roles were undertaken by John Macurdy, as the King; Robert Nagy, as a messenger; and Mary Ellen Pracht, as a priestess.

The first question that arises is whether or not the current “Aida” surpasses its previous incarnation at the Met. The answer to this is simple, for indeed it does, though in a very curious way. While the previous “Aida” was rather paltry and lacking in glamour, what we have now is a sumptuous production straight out of Hollywood. Cecil B. De Mille is its godfather, and every scene is guided-in sets, costumes and action-by the ghost of Mr. Dc Mille’s exotic spectaculars. The Met’s new “Aida” is massive, busy, everywhere grand and not a shade brainless. In mounting the work, Nathaniel Merrill has concentrated on all things lavish, even to the point that in the simple Nile Scene he and the designer, Robert O’Hearn, have seen fit to include at stage left a mountain which might satisfy even devotees of “The Ring.”

In other words, nothing is left to the imagination so far as pomp and pageantry arc concerned. The whole production was clearly devised to be grand and glorious, as much of it is, the only exception being the Entombment Scene, which appears to be taking place in an abandoned mine shaft. Especially striking are the colors used throughout the production, which tend toward browns and are set off by the whole complement of shades which make browns glow like amber. Understand, there is nothing original to all this: the new “Aida” is new in name only. All its visual effects are old-hat and have been seen on countless other occasions. But there is a certain majesty to it, an opulence of design, if you will, that no other company in America is capable of producing.

Much the same can he said of Mr. Merrill’s direction. It is standard, forthright and admits of no avant-garde monkeyshines. Every artist does precisely what you would expect him to do under the circumstances and, while there is no show of imagination, there is nothing either that touches on had taste. It is all very proper and calculated and, in the final analysis, a mite dull. Even the Triumphal Scene, with all its hundreds crammed onto the stage, is not overpowering; it is impressive, yes, but does not make the senses totter.

. . . .

A final word for Katherine Dunham’s choreography, which was hilarious. She had people doing the twist on stage and shimmying, too, as though she imagined the entire business was a hoax…